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#84066 of 92277 Lexus 'Vert by tjc78

Sep 23, 2012 (12:18 pm)

Wow, I'm stunned a 70K Lexus wouldn't have some sort of sensor to prohibit someone putting the top down with stuff in the trunk that interferes with the mechanism.
 
Great story Mike.
 
I would think comprehensive insurance may pay for such a mistake.

#84067 of 92277 Re: HARD-TOP CONVERTIBLES ARE NOT ALL THEY ARE HYPED TO BE [isellhondas] by driver100

Sep 23, 2012 (1:09 pm)

Replying to: isellhondas (Sep 23, 2012 12:01 pm)
this guy's case he was reporting less than half his actual profits
 
Same as your government, our government is desparate for cash. They found a new one that they think will make them hundreds of millions.
 
They experimented with 3 restaurants in a medium size town. They found waiters and waitresses who claimed much less for tips than what the tips really were. It was very easy to do, they knew the amount the restaurant was bringing in a year. They found the amount claimed for tips was much less than it should have been. Waiters will have to pay $10000s of dollars, don't forget they can go back for years. This was just a small test, but when they start doing this all over it will bring in 100s of millions.

#84068 of 92277 Re: Lexus 'Vert [tjc78] by driver100

Sep 23, 2012 (1:14 pm)

Replying to: tjc78 (Sep 23, 2012 12:18 pm)
sort of sensor to prohibit someone putting the top down with stuff in the trunk
 
Don't know if they had a sensor then, but my 2008 BMW 328 had a sensor. If anything at all was in the way the roof would stop at that point.
 
There is nothing as nice as driving a convertible under ideal conditions. I can't say I miss it though, there are so few times when it is practical to have the roof down, the other times, the advantages don't outweigh the disadvantages for me. Hard to get in backseat, backseat passengers hate having roof down, car isn't as sturdy, lack of trunk space, and almost impossible to get AWD in a vert.

#84069 of 92277 Re: Lexus 'Vert [tjc78] by abacomike

Sep 23, 2012 (1:28 pm)

Replying to: tjc78 (Sep 23, 2012 12:18 pm)
Wow, I'm stunned a 70K Lexus....
 
When you pulled the toneau cover back over the trunk and locked it in place, that disengaged the safety to that the top could be lowered. What he did was put a piece of luggage in the trunk, then stretched the toneau cover over the luggage (like he was told not to do and shown 3 times) thus allowing the top to come down, but crush into the luggage. All the struts were bent as well. Given the fact that he paid cash for the car, I don't think a guy like this is going to tell anyone about it - do you?
 
With all the drug money that used to (and still does) sift through the south Florida area, I'm sure the $69K + was not a problem for him to come up with again.

#84070 of 92277 Re: HARD-TOP CONVERTIBLES ARE NOT ALL THEY ARE HYPED TO BE [driver100] by oldfarmer50

Sep 23, 2012 (1:38 pm)

Replying to: driver100 (Sep 23, 2012 1:09 pm)
"...Waiters will have to pay $10000s of dollars..."
 
What? And the waitresses don't have to pay anything? That sounds like gender bias to me! Someone should be fined!
 
Down here the Feds get money with held based on an assumed 8% average tip. If a bunch of Edmunds grinders stiff the poor wait staff they have to prove they made less.

#84071 of 92277 Re: HARD-TOP CONVERTIBLES ARE NOT ALL THEY ARE HYPED TO BE [oldfarmer50] by driver100

Sep 23, 2012 (1:44 pm)

Replying to: oldfarmer50 (Sep 23, 2012 1:38 pm)
Down here the Feds get money with held based on an assumed 8% average tip.
 
8% tip!!!!!!!!!!
 
I thought tips were in the 15 to 20% range these days!
 
Actually, some of the waiters (and waitresses) are told by management to claim 10% of the bill to stay out of trouble. Seems the government knows tips are more than that, and that extra amount is what is going to add up to big bucks.

#84072 of 92277 Re: SFTSF Role Call [oldfarmer50] by abacomike

Sep 23, 2012 (1:46 pm)

Replying to: oldfarmer50 (Sep 23, 2012 11:29 am)
When we were down there for Christmas week in 2009...
 
Ah, Christmas, Easter and Spring Break - the busiest times of the year down here in PARADISE/SHANGRA LA! That's when all the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren fly down here in "droves" to stay with their elderly parents/grandparents/great grandparents. Those are the times of the year when these rental companies pull up with trucks to unload cots, beds, cribs, etc., so these loving children and such can have something to sleep on when they are here.
 
They have no idea how their visits are both loved and loathed at the same time. Loved because these aging retirees get the one chance a year to see their families, loathed because it truly upsets their entire lives for a week or two.
 
Think about it! Babies crying, teenagers playing basketball and tennis until all hours of the night, not to mention when they get together for parties here on the property and make so much noise, it wakes the dead. And then these poor old people have to babysit these crying infants while the parents go out on the town for dinner, movies, shows, drinking, and the like.
 
Another problem is their sleeping and eating habits. These residents are used to getting up before dawn to have their breakfasts and take their walks on the paths throughout the community. But with these visitors who sleep until 10:00 AM and don't go to bed until midnight or later, it sets these people's "life clocks" into all kinds of havoc. I usually stay up to watch Leno or Letterman, or some movie, but I can tell you I'm the only one with a light on in our entire condo building. These people go to sleep at 8:00 or 9:00 PM. My Dad is in bed and asleep by 8:30 PM.
 
I loved *driver's comments about activities. By 8:00 or 9:00 PM, everyone is asleep.
 
If you want to go out for dinner to a nice restaurant, or even a not so nice restaurant, you want to avoid going between 4:30 and 6:00 PM. Remember, the Early Bird menus attract these people like bees to honey.
 
If you happen to be in a restaurant at 5:30, especially Italian restaurants, they serve these delicious garlic rolls - all you want, with dinner. So, they fill up on the garlic rolls and then order more and put them into napkins and right into their purses to take them home for a snack later on or to serve with dinner the next night. And then, those "doggie bags". An older person cannot eat everything that is served with the dinner - soup, salad, garlic rolls, main course, then dessert. So everyone take home a "doggie bag" and they have it for dinner the following night. It's like a minagerie down here.
 
I know you all must think that I am exaggerating a little with each of these posts! Well the truth is, "...I'M NOT EXAGGERATING - I'M ACTUALLY WITHOLDING EVEN WORSE SPECIFICS!
 
So you see, Paradise is actually a little bit of heaven, but a whole lot of HELL!

#84073 of 92277 Re: HARD-TOP CONVERTIBLES ARE NOT ALL THEY ARE HYPED TO BE [driver100] by isellhondas

Sep 23, 2012 (2:44 pm)

Replying to: driver100 (Sep 23, 2012 1:44 pm)
I live smack dab in the backyard of a HUGE software company that all of you are aware of. Theis company has a program for their employees that they can sign up for. They become "Prime" members and they are entitled to discounts and special pricing. At my store, I was the main go to guy for these people.
 
Some restaurants offered deals such as buy one meal and one meal is free.
 
Well, my representive told me that most of the restaurants had dropped out.
 
It seems the discount seekers always drank water and were very poor tippers.
 
One waitperson was asked for extra lemon wedges by one of these people. She caught the customer making his own lemonade using water, the lemons and half the sugar in the container!
 
In some cultures, spending as little money as possible is a way of life!

#84074 of 92277 Re: HARD-TOP CONVERTIBLES ARE NOT ALL THEY ARE HYPED TO BE [isellhondas] by abacomike

Sep 23, 2012 (3:06 pm)

Replying to: isellhondas (Sep 23, 2012 2:44 pm)
in some cultures, spending as little money as possible...
 
When you posted that "making lemonade at the table" situation, I broke out laughing! I've not only seen that at restaurants down here, I caught my own father doing that once! I told him right then and there, in front of the waiter, that if he ever did that again, I would not go out with him to a restaurant again!
 
It has nothing to do with culture, but everything to do with BEING CHEAP! These people have lots of money, but they are so cheap they won't spend $2.00 on a Coke, Pepsi or iced tea. It's disgusting to see that in a restaurant. Since I warned my Dad about never doing that again, it has stopped.

#84075 of 92277 Re: Jmonroe [tyguy] by fezo

Sep 23, 2012 (4:01 pm)

Replying to: tyguy (Sep 23, 2012 10:37 am)
We hear a lot about no US refineries being built since 1970 but it's a trick statistic. We've expanded existing refineries like mad. We have more capacity to refine than we did then. There are a couple of reasons we get a lot of gas reined elsewhere - it's cheaper and a greater persentage of the oil to be refined is elsewhere.

Messages Page 8408 of 9229

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